forecasters called it a super storm for a reason. sappedy is the top story from coast to coast. good afternoon. i'm torry campbell. the storm that slammed in the east coast overnight has killed at least 17 people and left massive amounts of damage, darkness and flooding in its wake. new york city was especially

hard hit, along with high winds, 13-foot surge of sea water gush into the city and a flooded buildings and subway system. thousands of people were left without power. a crane was toppled an dozens of flooded homes caught fire and were destroyed. >> the storm brought something like 23 serious fires to parts of stanton island, brooklyn, queens as well as city island and the bronx. the terrible fire on breezy point is now under control. we believe we lost more than 80 houses. the search and res covery operations -- recovery operations are ongoing. >> the system smashed on shore in new jersey. you could see the power of the winds in the video. a rescue operation is under way today in three new jersey town. super storm sandy is covering one-third of the country.

it's drenched at least 20 states and washington, d.c. the recovery effort cannot begin just yet. >> we have more weather to deal with. hopefully people will be able to stay safe until they can get to the other side of the storm. >> while some areas are dealing with high water, the national weather service is predicting if the water continues to rise, it will create the worst flooding in 15 years. residents brace for more rain. and forecasters say the wind and rain won't be as strong but they expect the storm to stick around for another day. and blizzard warning is in effect for west virginia where sandy is expected to blow through the appalachian mountains with high winds and snow.

554 arrivals. we spoke to an airport person a few minutes ago. some flights are opening up. there are some flights heading to boss top and washington, d.c. and very late night during the red eye flights. if you're headed in placeses places in newark. no word on whether air traffic will reopen. >> and they are still looking at possibly red eyes tonight. if you remember yesterday, we have a total of 50 cancellations. currently we have 114.

you probably will see that number climb if we're unable to start operations up to the east coast cities. >> in are about 150 cancellations. and connect to the other flights of the east coast. we found some people who weren't directly affectedded to the storm. they made it to the airport a little early in the afternoon, just in case. >> high winds. that's all i heard so far and a lot of rain. but -- so far things are looking okay. a little early, just making sure, we have plenty of time to heck in and see if it's delayed and, you know, we will have to deal with it as it comes. >> airport spokesperson. and they depend on the number of cancellations. and the best advice, if you're

being affected in the storm, just check ahead with the airlines. live in san francisco international airport. live to you. ktvu news. >> sand see continuing her destructive impact. you could see how massive the storm is. >> 45 miles an hour still, with gusts to near 65. and westerly trek around 10 miles an hour. take a look at that. i had to measure it. and reaching into new england. the flooding continues in new jersey into new england as well as another foot of snow expected to the appalachian mountains. sandy will be shifting north to the west end of the new york state. the storm impact should last through the week.

torry? >> thank you, rosemary. we'll check with you for the local weather. >> and helping restore power to local people. the utility is sending 150 workers to new york. and they will be asifting, edison crews. and they are leaving today. >> and we talked to a pga spokesperson. >> and as many other utilities are. and a huge effort from utilities crews across the nation. and ready and willing to help much. >> and sandy left at least 8 million people without power and 13 states. >> bay area volunteers are lending a hand to the super storm relief efforts. volunteers to the area, and santa cruz chapters of the red

cross was sent out to the east coast. >> many more are waiting for flights to be allowed in the area. the red cross set up shop in nine states. it plans to deliver 250,000 ready to eat meals to storm victims. and the federal government remains shuttered for a second day. in seven minutes, we'll tell you about the mess that needs to be cleaned up. >> other top story, getting ready for the world series parade. it takes a lot to organize a big event. fortunately, the city has a little recent experience. tara has some of the activities that are happening today. >> we have the black and orange. they are busy stappling away. we have six floats. we have a ways to go.

>> getting everything ready in time. plap. and you're in our -- >> they are stappling sheeting, cutting wood and painting orange stripes. while the players are in vintage cards. . >> we are just in a world wind of activity right now. and we have less than 24 hours to produce the parade. as you could see, there's an army of parade termites. getting the giant colors up. >> and in 2010, an estimated 1 million people attended the parade downtown. this time around, the same number is expected they tell us they are not beefing up the

staffing levels. discretionary -- if you are working, you can't take the day off. >> we want everybody working bogs we want to make sure it's staffing. and we're asking the fans to celebrate but do it responsibly. >> we will be up bright and early for parade coverage. the parade starting at 11:00. if you're skipping school, make sure you get an early start. back here live, they are assembling right here. they have the giants mask. not sure where they are going. it's still a little wet. all in all, it should ab fantastic day. hopefully, you will be able to make it down. channel 2 news. >> the parade is set to start

at 11:00. >> it will go up to market street and wound up in the civic center plaza. mass transit is beefing up the big crowd. bart will be running longer trains and a rush-hour schedule. during the last giants parade u bart set a record of over 522000 passengers. parking will be a premium. >> caltran is also adding service tomorrow. >> you could watch the parade on ktvu channel 2 and ktvu mobile. a live coverage of the parade begins at 10:30 tomorrow morning. >> merchants don't want repeat of vandalism that happened sunday night when the giants won the world series. workers spent the day cleaning up debris and graffiti. more than half were for

felonies. in three hours, san francisco's district attorney will outline charges expected against those arrested during sunday's vandalism. >> some nightmares for bay area travelers trying to get to d.c. >> and details in 10 minutes. >> a san francisco family barely escapes a house fire. the explosion they felt before they started.

. airport officials had one more to cope with. a bucket of mysterious powder was discovered at 8:45 in walkway between terminals one and two. the sidewalk was closed. they found the powder was not hazardous and gave the all clear about 90 minutes ago. the public health department will do further tests. minutes ago president obama spoke from the red cross headquarters.

promising staff delivery to victims of super storm sandy. the message to his administration, no red tape. >> we will do everything we can to get resourceses to you and make sure that any unmet need is identified. we are responding to it as quickly as possible. i told the mayors and governors ring if they are getting no somewhere in the federal government, they can call me personally. >> the nation's capitol remains shut down. winds an rain have subsided. and ktvu scott mcfarland hags been tracking the storm's path much joins us live from washington, d.c. >> this city is emerging. slowly emerging. on d street, across the street from the u.s. capitol. the white truck that's about to drive by. >> traffic is light. all of that said, the u.s. government is poised to reopen

tomorrow. picking up lint and debris. cameras were found down the washington monument. 36 hours after the first raindrops fell, the major roads are passible again. and some flights have resumed in washington's reagan airport. >> other than being cupid up and being caught up in the hysteria, other than that, i lucked into the flight. >> subways reopened an hour ago. after being trapped indoors, people are back in the sidewalk. >> it's not pouring. >> so many headaches remain, trees toppled houses. 22 in one virginia city. more than a quarter are without power still. there is a mess in the street and still on the national mall. >> we didn't lose any trees. there were some in the mall and

we lost some in the capitol grounds. >> also lingering some flood concerns. a lot of leaves and branches from the downed trees, are blocking storm drains. >> we have an ongoing flood concern. about half people, without power, without heat. live in washington. scott mcfarland, ktvu channel 2 news. >> thank you, scott. >> many are doing last minute readings on the candidates. ktvu.com could help you. just go to the news on the top of the front page. click on politics to read the ballot in your area. san francisco family barely escaped. and as ktvu alex sav ink tells us, there are reports that the fire began with some kind of, of explosion. >> san jose firefighter spent

about a half hour. and five people were inside at the time. bill mcmayhen. and before the family broke out, family members felt the house shake. >> there was an explosion. the kids came running. they said there's an explosion in my room. >> a hazardous incident team was called to investigate the possible explosion. pg&e also did the inspection but didn't find the natural gas leaks that may have triggered the fire. >> take the explosion very seriously. we don't want anybody else to be injured. right now we have the incident team. we will look -- >> and while the family is certainly thankful they made it out safe, their puppy was nowhere to be found. several hours later, there was

relief. after 10-year-old nathan mcmay han found their dog tippi hiding behind the couch. >> he was curled under a towel. >> a bit of good news for a family that lost so much in the fire. the home was so badly damaged. luckily, the red cross has moved in and given them a place to stay and money for food and clothing. in san jose, alex sav ink, ktvu channel 2 news. >> bay area schoolkids got giants fever. one san francisco school, expressed the challenge in a san francisco champs later today . halloween activities planned for tomorrow. many will be leaving early to attend the giants victory parade. we talked to the principal.

>> i ep courage the students to come to school. pairs go ahead. and takes them to the parade. have a great afternoon. >> the school's principal and studentses say by going to the parade, they will be experiencing a part of san francisco history. cooling trend continues for tuesday. partly sunny skies to mostly sunny. giving you a live look over oakland. because of it, some areas, cooler than where we were yesterday. 54 in santa rose sa. santa rosa is dealing with a bighted of fog. visiblity about a mile. napa reporting some fog. and many of the coastal and bayside cities dealing with gray skies. interestingly, pacifically and half moon bay, partly cloudy to mostly clear skies much and inland east bay, we see the 60s, we have sunshine.

65 in concord right now. a look at the pacific satellite view, we will begin and see the slow burnoff continues in the afternoon. we're looking at partly cloudy skies. this is the system that will bring us the next outer brain and the latest models want to speed it up a little bit. for the trick-or-treaters, it may be a little tricky. pick it up around noontime. we have the parade moving on as we move in. 24 hours from now, we are looking at mostly gray skies. the rain is to the west. by 5:00, 6:00, it want toss pull in the north bay already. we'll be tracking it. scattered showers a possibility. and into the heart of the bay area by the evening hours. the morning commute, we're now into 7:00 a.m. thursday morning. it looks like it could also be wet. tracking the system, it could speed up a little bit. and until the late evening

hours. tomorrow, parade, and school conditions. again, we will be rain-free. giving you a look at the afternoon highs, 73 in petaluma. in the east bay, upper 60s. for oakland as well as alameda. mid-70s, to upper 70s. and santa clara valley, and today, 75, lost gatos. along the peninsula. 0 for san mateo. again, enjoying some sunshine out there at this hour. there's the extended forecast so we will leave the possibility of evening showers for halloween evening. it looks like rain will be with us for at least the first half of the thursday. we'll be drying out and clearing out in time for the weekend. we have still sunshine. still ahead, why facebook has an important meeting with the leaders of the peninsula city.

. wall street is preparing to reopen for business as new york city slowly recovers from the wreckage of hurricane sandy. the new york stock exchange plans to begin trading for the first time since friday.

they say the trading floor didn't suffer any damage from the storm. it's the first time since a blizzard in late march of 1888. the bad weather closed the markets for two days in a row. the city council will discuss the expansion of facebook headquarters. facebook currently has a nine building complex for 613 workers. the company has plans to expand with another building for an addition 2800 employees. some people in menlo park has expressed concerns on the expansion it has on local traffic and community services. today on ktvu channel 2 news at 5:00, we're less than 24 hours from the giant victory parade in san francisco. the final preparationings being made and what you plan to do if you plan on attending and if you want to get around the city. thank you for trusting ktvu channel 2 news.

we'll see you when the next time the news breaks. we'll always be here at ktvu.com and mobile ktvu.com.